Dusting and polishing mop



June 1, 1943. A. M. M CARTHY DUSTING AND POLISHING MOP Filed July 25,1940 aw m 5 WW Q mm m M W IM A 6 m A Patented June 1, 1943 2,320,372DUSTING AND POLISHING Mop Aimee M. McCarthy, Saratoga Springs, N. Y.,as-

signor of one-third to George H. Corey, New

York, Y.

Application July 25, 1940, Serial No. 347,401

Claims.

This invention relates to dusting and polishing mops and moreparticularly to an improved head for such mops and interchangeablerefills of mop material for detachable connection to the head.

Dusting and polishing mops heretofore available have been made ofvarious textile materials and have a tendency to leave lint and duststreaks after a short period of use, and, therefore, not only requirefrequent shaking out but also periodically need to be more thoroughlycleaned bywashing or boiling out and rinsing. This cleaning of floormops has proved to be a most distasteful job for the housewife and toavoid this the use of refills has been suggested. However, the refillsthat have been heretofore available, having been made of various textilematerials, are relatively expensive. Moreover, such materials even whenfirstused tend to leave lint on the surface over which they are wiped.

Ithas been proposed to use paper in place of textile materials in dustmopsand brushes, but

so far as I am aware no mop made according to the prior proposals hasbeen found satisfactory. I believe this has been due to failure toappreciate fully the differences between paper and textile fabrics thatmust be taken into account in devising a dust mop or refill for a dustmop that will serve the desired purpose. any event, the constructionheretofore proposed is not adapted to gather up dust efiiciently nor isitusable to good advantage in dusting around thelegs and other parts offurniture adjacent the floor or in wiping dust from corners and otherrestricted areas. Moreover, the refills, as proposed, would berelatively expensive to manufacture.

:It is an object of my invention to provide a simple, economical andimproved dust or polishing mopfor use on floors and like surfacesof.paper or a similar soft pliable material havingdust collecting andpolishing qualities and which at the same time is relativelyinexpensive.

'A further object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive andimproved head for floor mops which is of simple construction and haselements to which mop refills may be easily detachably connected.

A still further object of the invention is to provide dusting andpolishing refills for dust or polishing mops which are made ofinexpensive material and are of such construction as to facilitate thepicking up of dust in dusting or to evenly distribute a polishingmaterial, as the 4O whichis' provided with inexpensive refills made casemay be, and which are detachably connectable to mop heads and easilyreplaced by new refills when they become Worn or dust laden.

The foregoing objects and features of the invention are accomplished byproviding a mopping or wiping element made up of a plurality of sheetsof a soft pliable paper arranged in superposed relation and slitted orcut to provide a multitude or spaced slits of irregular contourextending from adjacent a common line of attachment to the free endsthereof. The strips or strands are advantageously so cut as to provideextended irregular side edges which may take the form of irregularserrations or other irregular shapes. These serve to enhance theeffectiveness of the mop by presenting extended dust gathering orpolishing edge surfaces in every position or direction of movement ofthe mop over the surfaces being dusted or polished.

The invention has for a further object an improved and simple method ofmanufacturing the refills wherein the number of sheets required toproduce the refill are placed in superposed relation and then folded asa unit laterally upon themselves. They are then stitched together,stapled or secured together in some other manner along or adjacent theline of fold. The strands or ribbons may be formed by passing theassembly beneath a reciprocating knife having an irregular lengthwisecontour designed to impart the desired serrations or other configurationto the side edges of the strip. This operation may be carried on eitherbefore or after the pad is folded upon itself, and likewise eitherbefore or after the sheets are secured together.

The invention has for a further object to provide a mop head of simpleform and so constructed as to permit of ready attachement to anddetachment therefrom of a refill of the novel form and constructionhereinafter more,

particularly claimed and described. The mop head may be made of sheetmetal or any other material having requisite stiffness for properlysupporting the mop material. The edges of the head may be provided withhooks or other connecting means either applied thereto or out and shapedfrom portions of the head itself.

The mop refills may be made from sheets of inexpensive pliablepaper-like substance which has been treated or which has naturalqualities for collecting and holding dust and for polishing surfaces.The main portion ofthe refill is (lit into ribbon-like strands, theedges of which are surface or flange 22 to which the refill mop materialmay be detachably connected or against which the refill may be pressedand held during use. The form of mop head shown in Figs. 1 and 2 isprovided with hooks 24 cut from the flange 22 and shaped to extendoutwardly and upwardly of the flange. A plurality of such hooks areprovided along the peripheral edge of the head to engage spaced eyelet25 formed along one edge of the refill l4 and in this way connect therefill to the periphery of the head.

sheets of paper material may be secured together by any suitable means,such as stitching, various forms of rivets or staples or'by localapplication of an adhesive substance. In case Waxed paper is used, thesuperposed sheets may be caused to adhere together along the comb orunslitted.

enough to enable the loops to be forced over hooks or similar memberscarried by the mop head. This form has the advantage that the refillserves to provide a soft cushion about the peripheral edge of the mophead to prevent engagement of the head or the connecting elements 2thereof with furniture or other surfaces with which the mop may comeinto contact during dusting and polishing operations.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, whenread in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an improved form of dusting andpolishing mop provided with a refill made in accordance with myinvention;

Figure 2 is a view in vertical section of the mop taken along line 2-2of Figure 1;

.Figure 3 is a view in side elevation of the mop refill in extendedposition, and

Figure 4 is a view in vertical section of a modified form of mop head,with parts broken away, provided with mop engaging and connectingelements whereby the mop refill is adapted to cover the connectingelements when the refill is connected in operative position on the head.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the mop of the presentinvention is shown to comprise a head Hi, a suitable handle I2 and adetachable mop refill M. The head H] is of simple construction, asshown, being suitably shaped fromv sheet metal, but may be made ofanother material having the requisite stiffness to properly support, therefill of mop material. To provide apivotal connection for the handlel2, lugs l6 r The mop refills are constructed of sheets 26 of a softpliable paper or similar material which are assembled into a pad of asuitable number of sheets and then folded as a unit transversely of thelength of the pad along a center line thereof as at 28. The assembledsheets are then secured together adjacent the fold 28, as by stapling orstitching 30. The main portion of the sheet ma terial is slitted toprovide strands 32, the edges of which are cut to provide irregular edgesurfaces or serrations 33. The construction of the refill is such thatit may be packed for sale either flat or in a compact folded form. Eachrefill may be packed separately, or preferably a suitable number arepacked and sold together as a unit.

After the refill has been applied to the head, the strands 32 arecrumpled, either by suitable manipulation of the mop against the floor,or'by hand, whereby the strands are crinkled and fiuifed laterallyoutward to present a multitude of wiping surfaces. The serrated edges ofthe strips are important in that they increase the effective area of thewiping surfaces and insure increased Wiping contact irrespective of thedirection of movement of the mop over the surface being dusted orpolished. It will also be appreciated 'that when the refill strips orthe strands 32 are means which positively eliminates surface contactwith the peripheral portion of the head Illa is This form of connectingmeans shown in Fig. 4.

comprises a plurality of hooks 54 cut and shaped from the peripheralflange 50.

The hooks 54 are of such size, shape and disposition that the loops ofthe staples or stitchings 55 and 56 are adapted to receive the hooks 54to hold the refill in position substantially as illustrated. This formof connecting means is simple and yet effective in detachably connectingthe refills to the mop head, and at the same time provides an adequatecushion of mop material adja- 1 cent the peripheral edge of the head tokeep the metal portions of the mop head from undesired contact with thelegs or other parts of furniture or the walls of the room being dusted.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that I have inventedan improved floor mop which may be easily and cheaply manufactured andprovided with replaceable refills.

When a refill becomes worn and dust-laden to the point where theordinary mop would require cleaning or laundering, the refill may bedisposed mop of the present invention, therefore, provides aninexpensive and efiicient mop for the housewife which needs not beshaken out or laundered.

As hereinbefore indicated, various soft or pliable forms of paper may beemployed. A paper that I have found to work very satisfactorily for thispurpose is the type of soft tissue paper sold for cleansing purposes, ofwhich the brand sold as Kleenex is a representative example. I have alsofound that various waxed papers serve my purpose very well, both byreason of their ability to gather dust and at the same time theirability to apply a Waxed finish effect to the surface that is dusted. Itwill be understood that instead of the ordinary parafiin wax the papermay be impregnated with a wax composition including the ingredientscustomarily employed in floor waxes.

There are also certain inexpensive fabric materials that may be used informing my improved refill as, for example, that type of cotton fabricknown as cheesecloth, and this may be impregnated with wax in a similarmanner as paper.

While I have shown and described several different variations of myinvention, I am fully aware that many additional variations andmodifications thereof are possible. For this reason it should beunderstood that the forms of the invention herein illustrated anddescribed are intended to be illustrative of the invention only and notas limiting the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A dusting and polishing mop comprising a triangular head having aplurality of hooks spaced along the peripheral edge thereof, the billsof the hooks being so disposed as to project slightly outwardly of thehead, and a mop refill made up of a plurality of sheets of waxed paper,said sheets being arranged in superposed relation and secured togetheradjacent one edge of the refill, said sheets being provided with spacedslits of serrated contour extending from adjacent their common line ofattachment toward the free edges thereof, whereby to produce a pluralityof superposed ribbon-like strands or strips having serrated edgesurfaces and presenting, when the mop is in use, extended dust gatheringedge surfaces in every position or direction of movement of the mop overthe surface being dusted or polished, and said refill being providedwith spaced loop members along the secured edge thereof adapted toreceive the bills of said hooks for detachably holding the mop refilladjacent the peripheral edge of said head while at the same time holdingthe refill in a position to prevent contact of the mop-head and saidfastening means with the legs and other parts of furniture about whichthe mop is moved in polishing and dusting.

2. A refill for dusting and polishing mops or the like, comprising aplurality of sheets of a thin pliable paper-like material adapted tocollect dust or lint when brought into contact therewith, said sheetsbeing arranged in superposed relation and secured together along oneedge to form a pad adapted to be secured to the peripheral flange of atriangular shaped mop-head, said individual sheets being provided withspaced slits of indented contour extending from adjacent their commonline of attachment toward the free edges thereof, whereby to produce aplurality of superposed ribbon-like strands or strips having indentededge surfaces presenting, when the mop is in use, extended dustgathering edge surfaces in every position or direction of movement ofthe mop over the surface being dusted or polished.

3. A refill for dusting and polishing mops or the like, comprising aplurality of sheets of a soft paper arranged in superposed relation andfolded as a unit transversely, said sheets being secured togetheradjacent the line of fold and being provided with spaced slits ofserrated contour extending from adjacent their common line of attachmenttoward the free edges thereof, whereby to produce a plurality ofsuperposed ribbon-like strands or strips having serrated edge surfacespresenting, when the mop is in use, extended dust gathering edgesurfaces in every position or direction of movement of the mop over thesurface being dusted or polished, said refill being further providedwith a plurality of spaced eyelets adjacent the secured edge thereof andadapted to engage with supporting means carried by a mop head.

4. A refill for dusting and polishing mops or the like, comprising aplurality of sheets of pliable waxed paper arranged in superposedrelation and folded as a unit transversely to form a pad adapted to besecured to the peripheral flange of a triangular shaped mop-head, saidsheets being secured together adjacent the line of fold and beingprovided with spaced slits of serrated contour extending from adjacenttheir common line of attachment toward the free edges thereof, wherebyto produce a plurality of superposed ribbon-like strands or stripshaving serrated edge surfaces presenting, when the mop is in use,extended dust gathering edge surfaces in every position or direction ofmovement of the mop over the surface being dusted or polished.

5. The method of making a refill for polishing and dusting mops or thelike, which comprises associating a plurality of sheets of waxed paperin superposed relation, forming a series of serrated cuts in saidassembled sheets generally parallel to one another and extending fromadjacent the center line of such assembly outwardly toward the opposededges of said sheets, thereby forming o a plurality of superposedribbon-like strands or strips having serrated edge surfaces, folding theassembled sheets as a unit along said center line, and securing theassembled sheets together adjacent the line of fold, thereby forming apad adapted to be secured to the peripheral edge fiange of atriangular-shaped mop-head.

AIMEE M. MCCARTHY.

